Tony Tone

Excellent result! My quick thoughts:
 - Barkley a frustrating talent. Clearly has skill / talent, but too often makes the wrong decision for me. This performance summed him up perfectly, sublime moments surrounded by a a lack of vision and some poor decisions in critical areas
 - Gilmour was immense. Not only on the ball, but his directing of play. He is vocal, shows no fear and was a breath of fresh air. Have a lot of hope for him becoming a star. Hope he sees a bit more game time through the run in. Thought we looked a bit exposed with him, Mount and Barkley in CM but the Willian injury and Jorginho coming on, Mount moving to the left 'wing' seemed to fix that.
 - Kepa deserves a recall. Big Willy hasnt exactly set the world alight or changed any of the underlying stats. Kepa's ceiling is higher and he did everything right last night.
 - Giroud. Not much more I can say. He helps us relieve some of the pressure through his hold up play, heading etc. As we don't keep possession well when in front, we need someone like him. His link up play and general effort was also excellent. Miles ahead of Bat Man for me (I like Michy and want him to do well but...)
 - Alonso our best left sided option. Was solid defensively (can't always say that) and useful in attack. The extra dimension going forward when we sometimes lack a solution makes up for the defensive weaknesses in my view.
At points during the game, I was still worried about a few things, particularly our ability to maintain possession and look solid. Shape wasnt too bad and we seemed more disciplined, but still looks quite open to me at times. Also, we played out the back horrendously.
Take nothing away - great result. Lets hope the draw is kind....Que sera sera....

Great performance. We've been saving this one apparently. A few thoughts:
1. The end of the high press is welcome and I hope it continues. We looked so much more solid and so much more threatening on the break. It was noticable when Jorginho came on that we bizarrely tried to press high again. Liverpool broke the press strolled pass Jorginho and nearly scored.
2. Giroud was immense. He did very well against the best CB combo in the country. His connection with those around him was great. Unlucky not to score. Pedro despite his miss was also massive. What a match from him despite the miss. Covered every blade.
3. Billy Gilmour could well see a few more fixtures before the year is out. What a performance. He was composed received under pressure and got stuck in when needed. Kind of what we would want from Jorginho.
4. Great goal from Barkley. This bloke is so frustrating. One moment he is genius, next minute he takes the wrong option. Even for the goal he should have played in Pedro twice but choose instead to speculate from outside the box which to be fair was a ripper.

What a frustrating, gut wrenching match. I just didn’t see us losing it, but nevertheless it’s a bit of the same old story. Struggle to break teams down, changes come too late, fragile at back (particularly in goal in my opinion).
I’m also getting the feeling that Lamps banging on about us not being clinical enough is becoming a bit of a self fulfilling prophesy with our players. Many are young and I just don’t think him constantly banging on about it, to ensure he gets backing from the board, is helping confidence amongst the group.
Kepa is a massive issue for me - I just don’t see him saving us points. He’s fragile and whilst he might make a good save every now and again, I struggle to see how he elevates the team in any way. We’ve invested a lot in him so I don’t see the club making a change but it’s clear Frank isn’t happy with him either. We are a bit stuck here.
It’s not all bad and we have to remember we’ll have games like this with an inexperienced squad of players, but there are some things we are consistently seeing that would need to see addressed. We can’t give the team/coaches a pass forever but need to be patient.

At risk of repeating everyone elses comments, I was very happy with last night. Quick thoughts from me:
 - Reece James is the REAL DEAL. He will be our starting right back soon enough. Looked like a man against boys out there.
 - Billy Gilmour - loved what I saw. Always wanting possession, vocal in midfield telling others what to do and where to move (including Barkley) and dictated the play. Classy. We did think the same with Mceachran at one point though but perhaps the game today is more suited to that type of player and think Billy offers a bit more to the team.
 - CHO was a bit rusty but he never gave up and is clearly a fiery competitor. Loved his passion and so pleased he got his goal. Showed flashes. The only way is up.
 - Anjorin and Maatsen looked tidy, Anjorin in particular, especially given his size. Exciting for the future. Hopefully the club start to see the blueprint for getting these boys into our first team in the next few years.
 - Guehi was as advertised. Never really troubled and looked assured. Happy to have that depth there.
 - Experienced campaigners did well. Showed fight, passion etc. all the things we expect to see, even against lower opposition.
 - Pulisic is a worry for me. Was invisible in the second half and i'm struggling to see what he offers. A bit of pace, but what else? Looked short on confidence and ideas. Need to give him time clearly. but I didn't see any reason for the hype.
 - We need to play with a 10. Pedro in that role offered very little and kept drifting so we had too big a gap between midfield and attack down the middle. Grimsby let us come onto them so wasn't too much of an issue, but against teams that press, we need a link between the central midfielders and the striker that isn't just out on the wings.
 - Disappointed we conceded and did fall asleep at a few set pieces again. We need to fix that - the biggest worry for me continues to be the defense.
All in all, a feel good evening in many aspects. Hopefully monkey off the back at home and we dispose of Brighton with confidence at the weekend. UTC!

Just got back from the game, one of the best matches ive been to at the Bridge, and i think its down the the feel good factor of the academy products.
Gilmour was absolutely unreal. Like the kid was just brilliant, eveything he did was just perfect. He gets the ball and pings it first time, inch perfect and that isnt just easy passes, through balls everything. He was so composed and confident.
Reece James, joint man of the match for me. The guy is solid at the back and great going forward. Was literally the perfect performance. Yet again so composed, and so much confidence. 2 assists and a goal, and a teenager outmuscling grown men. Hes fast, strong,technically good, and ultimately has great end product. 
Marc Guehi, again extremely impressed with this kid. Like the other two what impressed me was their supreme confidence and composure on their full debuts. He didnt put a foot wrong and put in a great performance.
Alonso put in a good enough performance, and zouma had one of his better day. I thought pedro was decent in midfield, and barkley was good but very very frustrating too. The amount of jeers from the crowd anytime he did anything wrong makes me think he wont be with us much longer. I thought batshuayi put in a very good performance, he looked so hungry and its clear he has always been a goalscorer, but his link up play and desire was very good. The two wingers were a little disappointing, hudson didnt have his best game tbh and missed a few sitters but ultimately he scored again, and pulisic was very quiet, i expected him to grab his chance more. 
As for the subs i was impressed with that left back maatsen, the way he was bombing up and down the wing with his electric pace. Anjorin seemed decent too, a little bit big and clumsy at times, but these two are 17 and hopefully will have very bright futures.
Its just such exciting time at the bridge, but one thing to take away is i see a lot of the older players playing their last season. I cant see how pedro and willian will be there next season, we have already got rid of luiz which was a few seasons too late. But with all the young talent coming through, the older ones will seriously need to up their games or be ousted.

That was a great game to be at the Bridge, especially in the second half. But, how on earth do we let a Grimsby player get behind our defenders and score? Great goal for them, but can’t we get a clean sheet against a lower division team?
Other than that, I was impressed by the youngsters. James, Gilmour, Guehi, Maatsen, Anjorin were very good. CHO was good as well but I was expecting s bit more from him, given all the hype about the contract.
great game and first victory for Lamps at the Bridge. Let’s hope we can get a continuation this weekend against Nrighton. Can we play some more youth?

It wasn't that bad last night was it?
I thought we played ok and put quite a lot of pressure on them, albeit in short spells (end of first half, beginning of second in particular). I do think we missed a link between midfield and attack when Mount went off. I would have thought Barkley over Pedro for that early sub might have made the difference. At the very least bring some midfield creativity on early in the second half - felt obvious to me.
Valencia are nothing special, neither are Lille by the looks of things. We got caught sleeping at a set piece, but were warned as fell asleep at one of their corners earlier in the half. We can still make it out of this group based on quality, but we know playing in Europe takes some adjustment. Many good teams have struggled - think Man City in their first few years. Our inexperience, not lack of quality, is the only risk for me.

And that’s the way it’s going to be this season I feel. Guess we’ll all have to get used to it and enjoy the ride.

If we could play our full squad that would be my selection. I would maybe shift 3 or 4 of the players playing in what seems to be the football equivalent of brunch from the right side and spread them more liberally across the pitch ?
Edit - It just looks like somebody threw the squad onto a table like confetti. Might look different between android/apple. Suggest not trying to show the actual formation but say what formation and list the players. On the other hand you can do what you want obviously.

I was sat with my boy in the 'family' area. Sheff Utd fans sounded pretty loud from there....thought they had a decent turn out. I normally sit MHL and amazing to hear how the chants from MH don't really travel to the other end of the ground unless very loud or the whole ground gets involved.

FL asked Deschamps to leave him out of France in order to recover and he did. Be surprised if he takes any part on the back of that.

I don't think most are going overboard. 
He's doing better than he was but that wasn't much of a standard to beat in all honesty.
A little bit of praise where it's due. That's all. 

Kante and Pedro off to a super secret shooting practice with Drogba perhaps??
/jk

CHO signing will be a welcome relief and if nothing else, Lamps will have got 3 of our youngest and brightest on long term deals. Should be careful not to put too much expectation on his shoulders though. He was promising in flashes last year, mostly against limited opposition. Expect he'll have his ups and downs this year just like the rest of the young team.

CHO trained in full at the open session today and didn’t look off the pace at all. Seemed very sharp in drills and mini match.
Rudiger also looked in good shape. Giroud was very on it.
Limited stuff on show though as Lamps is wary of spies as we know...
No Pedro or Kante training. Maybe just a rest for them?

Firstly I am thankful that the Refs have stopped going over to the sidelines to watch the enitire game again before making a call, however like a few have mentioned VAR should only intervene on clear and obvious errors & maybe let each team have 1 review per half for a decision which they believe may have gone against them. At the moment there just seems to be this lack of clarity around the involvement of VAR on a game. Play should be allowed to continue and the Ref should make the decision and unless it is obviously incorrect the decision should stand.
In the City & Spurs game it seemed fairly obvious that the Ref was happy with the goal and even the Spurs players had accepted the decision and than VAR got involved which seemed absolutely ludicrous. 

I think there’s a fair argument that Azpi has been used to playing in a solid defence in the past and also a solid keeper. Those facts combined and the changes he’s had to adhere to have in no doubt affected his confidence, but we’re so used to his reliability we’ve almost been spoiled. Kepa fills me with zero confidence with the ball at his feet and Azpi just looks as though he doesn’t want to receive it. Perhaps when Rudi comes back he will settle a bit especially with the promising start that Emerson has made

Feels like our system leaves all the back 4 exposed, especially when we lose possession in the middle of the park. Coupled with an iffy (or at best not established) centre back pairing, Azpi's steady decline looks steeper than it might be. Looked more compact against Liverpool but a bit wild again v Leicester

CHO signing will be a welcome relief and if nothing else, Lamps will have got 3 of our youngest and brightest on long term deals. Should be careful not to put too much expectation on his shoulders though. He was promising in flashes last year, mostly against limited opposition. Expect he'll have his ups and downs this year just like the rest of the young team.

Good news... amazing that he's back training this fast
 
 

Hi all,
Long time member, but new to the forum and pleased to be a part of it. Am taking my 5 year old along with me for the first time this year! He's excited and I need to be more organised so I don't let him down...!
Here's to an exciting (if nothing else) season ahead.

Welcome! Hoping it’s a good one for him!

If you email the club it’s your sons first game they should offer you some freebies and you can get a message up on the big screen. Did it for my mates sons first game a few years ago. 

Hi all,
Long time member, but new to the forum and pleased to be a part of it. Am taking my 5 year old along with me for the first time this year! He's excited and I need to be more organised so I don't let him down...!
Here's to an exciting (if nothing else) season ahead.